Democracy Now (until further notice)

Absolutely indispensable post from Digby [1] recalling a rock-bottom act of amorality from the right-wing cabal ca. 2000: their plans to accuse Al Gore of stealing the election, should he win the electoral college but not the popular vote.

The scheme was reported a week before Election Day in the New York Daily News: they would simulate " a popular uprising.... In league with the campaign -- which is preparing talking points about the Electoral College's essential unfairness -- a massive talk-radio operation would be encouraged.... 'We'd have ads, too,' said a Bush aide, 'and I think you can count on the media to fuel the thing big-time. Even papers that supported Gore might turn against him because the will of the people will have been thwarted.... Local business leaders will be urged to lobby their customers, the clergy will be asked to speak up for the popular will and Team Bush will enlist as many Democrats as possible to scream as loud as they can,' the article said.... You think 'Democrats for Democracy' would be a catchy term for them?' asked a Bush adviser."

One week later came an interesting wrinkle: Bush won the electoral college but not the popular vote. And we never heard a right-winger whisper of "the Electoral College's essential unfairness" ever again.

I've said it again and again: they're the party of Nixon, top to toe and stem to stern.

It recalls the time liberal reformers passed a bill for direct popular election of presidents in September of 1969, 338 to 70. Dixiecrats like Strom Thurmond filibustered it in the Senate, because getting rid of the electoral college spoiled their favorite blackmail tactic for forcing their evil will on the rest of the country: threatening to run a third-party presidential candidate, in order to keep either of the two parties from an electoral college majority.

Lo and behold, Richard Nixon rode to the rescue. He mounted the presidential bully pulpit in the summer of 1970 to try to force a Senate vote. Stirringly, he intoned: "Our ability to change this system in time for the 1972 elections is a touchstone of the impulse to reform in America today. It will be the measure of our ability to avert calamity by anticipating it."

Of course his real motives were as far from selfless as they could be.

The actual calamity he feared was George Wallace running as a third-party candidate. Unfortunately for Nixon, cloture failed, and the electoral college survived its greatest threat in two hundred years. Ever resilient, Nixon bounced back, figuring out a way to bribe George Wallace into running as a Democrat. His cut-out man was the Rev. Billy Graham. You can read about it all in the Haldeman Diaries.*

Moral of our story: they'll do anything to win. Even something so crazy as backing, provisionally and for the sake of appearances, actual democracy.

Now they're doing it again by rigging the electoral rules in California in a way that superficially appears more "fair." Digby explains. [1] And provides an action alert to do something about it.

[* Monday, June 19, 1972: “The P . . . reported that he had a long talk with Billy Graham. Graham has a line to [George] Wallace through Mrs. Wallace, who has become a Christian. Billy will talk to Wallace whenever we want him to. The P feels our strategy must be to keep Wallace in the Democratic Party and Billy can help us on that. So immediately after the Democratic Convention, I’m supposed to call Graham and Graham should put the pressure on Wallace to decide whether he’s going to be used as a spoiler, which would surely elect McGovern. Main key for us is to keep this a two-way race. We talked to Mitchell about who’s going to talk to Wallace and how we’re going to handle what his price is.”]